As the Christmas season is already in full swing, so are the people out there who would do anything to make extra money even if it meant harming others. I don’t usually post articles like this, but I am just too bothered not to share what happened to my best friend’s sister about a week ago. I, too, have a sister and friends who are still in school and may be potential victims of this gang. It is bad enough for your phone to be taken without your knowledge, but it is way worse to be hypnotized, taken to another city with all your belongings gone upon coming back to your senses. The worst part, you have no memory of how it happened. That’s what happened to my friend’s sister. Please read the account below and I hope it would help you stay cautious and safe this holiday season.

Allow me to share with you what happened to my younger sister yesterday, around 3 pm in Market Market vicinity.

She told me and my husband that she will be meeting up with her boyfriend in Market Market and so we dropped her off in Serendra so she just needs to cross to Market Market. This was around 3pm. A little past 5, I received a call from my mother telling me something happened to my sister, that she was mugged but she’s not aware of the details yet. She just got a call from an unknown number telling her that my sister is in Paranaque, in shock. I called up the number my Mom gave me and was able to talk to my sister – she was scared, crying and desperate.

My husband and I (along with my kids and in-laws) drove to Paranaque to locate her. By this time, my sister was already able to text me her exact location with the help of the staff from the spa. She mentioned the name of the spa and the address, but does not recall how she got there. We arrived to see her crying and shaking. Her story:

She was walking along the vicinity of Market Market, en route to her boyfriend’s house. This gay appeared out of nowhere and talked to her, telling her how he can make her into a model, that there is an event in World Trade Center on Saturday, about how she can earn Php14K in one go and then Php7K every week. After this – my sister doesn’t recall anymore what happened. She thinks that she was maybe hypnotized as she only remembers bits and pieces – that this gay person even stopped for a quick merienda, that she was in a cab with him (she doesn’t recall getting into one though). When she got to her wits, she was already in a spa – taking a shower. She got dressed – rushed out only to find out she already lost her entire bag. In it is an Iphone5 I got for her less than two weeks ago, my personal laptop, a watch, and some other personal items. She ran (almost got hit by a Revo) and tried to go after him – but the guard at the village said he very casually rode a cab.STORY FROM THE SPA OWNERS AND STAFF:

The gay and my sister arrived at the spa around 4:14pm. Their first impression was how are these two related? Why does the girl look “tulala” and lost. Upon arriving, this gay immediately made a scene saying he cannot find his phone in his bag. He shouted at my sister asking her if she missed getting his phone in the cab (giving the people in the spa the impression that they are really together – in fact, with the way he was shouting at my sister, they began to assume my sister is his PA). He asked my sister to ring his number so he can locate it. After this, he told the spa staff that he will have my sister body-scrubbed. He even went inside the room to “check” the facility, the shower room, etc. After this, he already instructed the spa to proceed with the service. My sister, under a spell she doesn’t know then, gladly obliged. Once in the shower, and maybe because that spell was broken when the water hit her face, she came back to her senses, got dressed and rushed back to the spa lobby.

I was able to see the guy as the spa has a CCTV camera in place so his face is very much recognizable. He is tall, dark-skinned and a bit on the heavy side. He was wearing a Tigers shirt and a pair of shorts. I asked for a copy of the footage but the Spa Owners said we should weigh our options first on whether to report this or not as they fear the guy will come back for my sister and even them. They also feel it’s bad for business. They said we are lucky he did not opt to kill my sister and dump her in some remote province.

I agree with them on this – but the part where they are asking not report this is unacceptable to me. We are still discussing within the family and weighing our options. My fear is that this incident happens again to another unsuspecting victim. The guy, by the way, left his bag in the spa, but I checked its contents and I think it’s a bag that was also stolen from another student for it contains exam sheets, quizzes, etc.

Today, my sister is still in shock, she’s at home but crying every now and then. She feels bad that she lost the phone she got for her 18thbirthday, some other stuff I gave her and my laptop. I feel bad worse as technically, I was the one robbed. The laptop contains all of the photos of my son from Day 1 and travel pictures of me and my husband. These things I can no longer duplicate nor replace. I do not know yet the next steps to take, perhaps report it when she’s ready. Or maybe this is the first step – to warn others of this modus operandi.

Let’s all be cautious for these scammers target the most unsuspecting people. Let’s protect our children, our family, our friends and ourselves. I never believed in this hypnotizing thing til this happened. God bless everyone and please pray this guy doesn’t get past this.

Please share this story to create awareness and if ever anyone see the guy in CCTV, please be alert that he may have other company within the vicinity, waiting for potential victims. Again, stay safe everyone.

UPDATE:

So, I’ve been sharing this story with my friends and it turned out that this has been going on for quite a while except for the transportation part. One of my friends shared what happened to her older sister who was on her way to deposit the money her husband sent from abroad for their home renovation (about P75,000). While walking, a “friendly” elderly couple approached her and chatted with her as if they were long-time friends. The couple kept talking until she willingly gave all the cash to them. This happened in the morning and she only realized what happened at 4 in the afternoon. Could it be hypnosis?

One elderly friend also shared that there are cases like this in Greenbelt. They would usually approach elderly people and then ask them if they know where to find this or that. Another friend said that young kids who are left unsupervised in arcades are usually victimized by a couple who pretend to be their long-lost relative. They would tap the kid on the forehead and the child would follow them without struggling so they would all look like normal family walking around the mall.

I still find it hard to believe that hypnotism is used for these crimes. It takes training and probably supernatural power to execute such a thing and I don’t think it would only take seconds to come into effect. So when someone left a comment about scopolamine, I immediately looked into it. Apparently, it is hailed as the world’s scariest drug and after reading about it, I definitely agree. From the experiences and stories shared, I think scopolamine has made its way here in the Philippines.

Below are some facts about scopolamine that I found around the net:

Scopolamine came from borrachero tree which is quite abundant in Colombia (yes, the cocaine capital of the world.) The flowers may look pretty (above photo. The flowers look familiar though. I’m just not sure if that’s the same ones I usually see in cemeteries. Hehe) and the fruits which look like little cacao are then chemically processed into powder form so that it can be used as a pill or can be blown directly to the face of an unsuspecting victim.

In Colombia, it is the most feared yet prized drug. It has the same value, look and density as cocaine but way, way more dangerous. A gram can kill 10-15 people. Drug overdose causes heart attack. The scary part is that criminals have no idea how much drug a person could tolerate. Some people who have low tolerance suffered from fatal heart attack once exposed to the drug.

Majority of theft crimes in Colombia involved scopolamine (also known as Devil’s Breath) because it causes the user to obey any command asked of him, as well as memory loss. The robber could easily use this to his advantage. One guy woke up at a city park, badly beaten up with no memory of what happened. All his money were gone, which he withdrew himself from the nearby ATM. His credit cards were charged with cash advances and the bank confirmed that it was him who did the transaction.

If you watched this video, the crimes are similar to what is happening here. After being exposed to the drug by either unknowingly sniffing it or taken orally (mixed in drinks) the victims willingly (and sometimes, happily) obey the robber. One of the stories from the video was about a guy who woke up in his apartment, confused as to why his apartment was empty. He asked the doorman and he told the guy that he had some friends with him last night and they loaded all his stuff in a van. He asked the doorman why he would do that and the doorman replied, “because you told me to.”

The drug could be discreetly blown to you or slipped into one’s drink. Some put a small amount on paper with an address written on it so when you look at it, you could have been sniffing the substance. Some elderlies were easily victimized because of their poor vision, they tend to put the paper too close to their face, absorbing more of the substance. Could this be the modus operandi in Greenbelt?

The crime lords of Manila might have invested in this drug. Being exposed to this is like being hypnotized but also putting your health in danger. This is indeed the scariest drug in the world because although you appear articulate to others, your will power is gone. You’re like someone’s puppet, you could be asked to commit a crime as worst as killing someone for someone else and you will be left with no memory of it. It would be hard to report it to the authority since it was hard to prove and the evidences like CCTV footages showed the victim appearing “normal.” It is scarier than hypnotism because there’s no way you could ever avoid this drug…

sam

December 9, 2014 at 10:06 pm (3 years ago)

Same thing happened to me 7 years ago and based from the photo, it could be the same guy.

I was not hypnotized though but the process sounds familar.

1. He approached me telling me I could be a model and I could earn this money fast for a modelling stint
2. I need to dress but first I need to be scrubbed or cleaned. So he went to the nearest parlor and even wanted to be the one to scrub me,which I refused

3. I left my bag which has my Ids and cheap cellphone outside, trusting him, I handed itnover to him

4. After 2 minutes I went out of the bathroom and hes gone, he took my shirt as well so I went out to look for him on my shorts

There was no hypnotism but just plain stupidity on my part and the lure of fast money got the best of me.

What description should the sharer use? A brusko man? We need the clearest description possible to help us in being more cautious and avoid unfortunate incidents like this. I don’t think the person who shared this incident has the intent to “discriminate” gays but merely to warn everyone that there are people out there – man, woman, gay, lesbian, young, old, etc – who have evil intent like what was shared. The perpetrator just happened to be a gay. Anyone regardless of gender orientation is capable of doing evil things like this modus.

Rin

December 18, 2014 at 8:31 am (3 years ago)

You said it yourself — “Anyone regardless of gender orientation is capable of doing evil things like this modus.” So why the need calling the suspect gay all throughout the entry? A simple “man” could have described him just fine.

Pot

December 18, 2014 at 10:12 am (3 years ago)

She dont mean to discriminate. She just wanted to specifically identify the suspect. There is a difference between a man and a gay she just wanted to be specific. There is no problem in being gay but a gay who does these horrible things that just not right and it wont stop until he got caught. So we need every possible information available and that includes that he is gay.

Rin

December 18, 2014 at 5:13 pm (3 years ago)

The suspect is still a man. Pray tell, does this person’s orientation show through his physical description? No, right? So it is unwarranted to keep calling the suspect gay over and over and over. It has no relevance to the crime he committed. Saying from the get-go that the suspect is gay only perpetuates the idea that individuals should be wary of gay people.

Gissele

December 18, 2014 at 11:58 am (3 years ago)

“A simple “man” could have described him just fine.”

– Following your line of thinking, then maybe she should have described him as a “person” instead. Describing him simply as a “man”, then wow, that’s insulting to all men!

Rin

December 18, 2014 at 5:02 pm (3 years ago)

Oh, you sweet summer child. Honey, man is not an orientation.

anna

December 16, 2014 at 3:21 pm (3 years ago)

this is really alarming coz same modus are also happening here in davao city and yes most of their victims are senior citizens. if in fact this plant may be what they are using to hypnotize people then its more alarming since i have seen this plant here. they even sell this during agri trade fair. im well aware of the effects of this plant since we had one before and when we found out about the effects then we immediately cut it off. people should be more aware of this plant already.

Rin

December 18, 2014 at 8:26 am (3 years ago)

I’m sorry about what happened to your sister but how is it relevant that you kept describing the man as gay? By doing so, you are perpetuating that people should be wary of gay people because they could be suspects of this modus operandi.

Pot

December 18, 2014 at 10:37 am (3 years ago)

You just dont get it do you? She just wanted be specific in her description of the suspect so people will be much aware. Quit making this issue the gay issue cause its not. Its just happens that the suspect is gay. She just wanted to warn people by giving every detail that might help identify the suspect and that includes the suspect being gay.

uhhh

December 19, 2014 at 6:50 am (3 years ago)

Don’t believe everything you read on the net specially about scopolamine. Just read its uses in the British National Formulary or American FDA directory. More likely its the same drug that they used is in the move “Hangover” and its slangly called “roofies”

uhhh

noy

December 19, 2014 at 7:20 am (3 years ago)

We have this kind of plant in the Philippines we called that Belladonna or relative of a belladonna plant. this plant has a character like drugs for intoxicating people. Try ever watching the movie of Halle Berry and Bruce Willis titled Perfect Stranger, they use this drug in there.

Aileen

December 19, 2014 at 5:54 pm (3 years ago)

I’m from Laguna and also a student. Same scenario happened to me a month ago. I already report it to the police. Unfortunately, the salon where it happened doesn’t have a hard disc on their cctv. Luckily my parents watched the news last night and told me that there is a news that has the same scenario of what happened to me then I watched it. And poof he is the same gay who tricked me. Thank you so much for posting this! It’ll help to find him easily.

Andrew Bagamasbad

December 20, 2014 at 3:08 am (3 years ago)

Hi there, i was almost victimized by this modus over at greenbelt 5 (4th level restroom, near Bench fix salon) weeks ago. It was a very weird scenario since i don’t usually speak with strangers and very yet in a comfort room. I believe they would normally look you in the eye and would do everything to distract you and get your attention. I was very lucky i snapped back to my consciousness since my phone rang, i still remember his name (Josh to be exact, and he looks similar to the person in the photo.) Thank goodness your sister is safe and well.

Anonymous Rex

Green

December 25, 2014 at 9:12 pm (3 years ago)

I have been searching about hypnotism the one that budol-budol gang uses to their victims and finally I saw and read your article thank you. Though I don’t know if what you found out about hypnotism is really true I still have to search about it for clarification. You see, this is why I sometimes hate our police department in our country for not giving attention to these gangs, it’s been years that they go lurking freely around cities and so I sometimes think someone with a high position in the police or criminal department is behind those gangs or if not behind, at least connected to them. Or otherwise the police or even the nbi JUST SUCK. You know.

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